Drought conditions prevail in Puntland as well as several parts of Somaliland, central and southern regions. Water shortages are reported in all drought-affected regions, increasing the risk of an acute watery diarrhoea (AWD)/cholera outbreak. With populations on the move in search of water and pasture, an estimated 35,000 children are at risk of dropping out of schools. The drought will further aggravate the malnutrition crisis with an increase in enrolment in nutrition programmes.

For more than five decades, the armed conflict in Colombia has prevented the country’s youth from building a future. Now, they might soon be given a seat in the classroom.

In Colombia’s rural areas, the armed conflict has prevented children and youth from attending school, according to a new report by the Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution (NOREF) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

“Getting these children back to school will be key to secure peace and stabilisation in Colombia,” said NRC’s country director in Colombia, Christian Visnes.

The majority of the IDP and returnee households in all five assessed districts of Kabul province (Bagrami, Deh Sabz, Kabul, Qarabagh and Surobi) access their food through credit, reliance on friends and family or from humanitarian assistance. Only a few purchase food with cash.

Returnees seem to have more diverse sources of income than IDPs, who rely almost exclusively on casual labour. Several returnees reported being engaged in smallscale farming/gardening and small business activities such as petty trade.

An Action Plan for the protection of children from recruitment and use in armed conflict was signed between the UN and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). This paves the way to a tangible commitment from SPLM-N to seek real solutions to protecting the children of Sudan from recruitment in armed conflict.

Of 21 children earlier released from detainment for association with armed movements, 20 have been reunified with their families and one placed in an alternative care arrangement.

Nearly 4,000 refugees relocate from Yida to Pamir camp: In Pamir refugee camp, as of 30 November, UNHCR relocated 2,332 refugees from Yida to Pamir including 2,185 refugees previously settled in Yida settlement. Cumulatively, 3,766 refugees have been relocated from Yida to Pamir, including 3,386 individuals previously settled in Yida settlement since opening its opening in September. The total population of Pamir camp now stands at 3,788 individuals (869 households).

The October launch of military operations to retake Mosul from ISIL has forced an additional 84,000 men, women and children to flee their homes. The offensive is part of a wider effort to bring large swathes of Iraq back under Government control.

Military operations in Kirkuk Governorate to the south-east have also triggered new waves of displacement. This adds to an existing humanitarian crisis, which had already forcibly displaced 3.1 million people in Iraq.

Nearly 5.1 million people face acute food insecurity in north east Nigeria. If humanitarian assistance is not provided, an estimated 400,000 children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition over the next 12 months across the states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

The upcoming Humanitarian Response Plan for 2017 targets 6.9 million people living in the three most affected states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, who require immediate, life-saving assistance.

Immense challenges face 150 million people across the Sahel. These include violent extremism, climate change and abject poverty, and a fourth – the demographic explosion that will see the region’s population double in the next twenty years – exacerbates the situation still further. Concerted action in terms of peace and security, trade, development, human rights and humanitarian action are required to help the region’s communities and their governments avert greater insecurity, poverty and migration, and instead reach a more stable and prosperous future.

While Ethiopia battles residual needs from the El Niño-induced drought, below average rains in the southern and eastern parts of the country caused by the negative Indian Ocean Dipole have led to new symptoms of drought. There are expectations of an overall strong harvest in northern and western parts of Ethiopia. Livestock deaths and water shortages are already reported from the primarily pastoral affected areas. In addition, disease outbreaks and food and nutritional insecurity persist in few other pocket areas.

• As many as one million people are estimated to remain out of reach of humanitarian assistance in Mosul. The humanitarian community is extremely concerned for their safety as reports of food and water shortages continue to emerge.